Plants that all your neighbors seem to have...

[Lily left the valley]

I realized early on that there are certain plants that almost every home in our neighborhood has:
- 2 types of hosta
- pink flowered rhododendrons
- lilac bush
-some variant of orange day lilies

Then there are the plants that more neighbors than not have:
- evergreen bushes flanking either the front door, front porch steps, front walk, or driveway
- some form of purple iris
- another bush I can't recall the name of at the moment, but we have that too
- azaleas (usually red)
- the emerald and gold bush (I almost killed by poor placement last year)

I know there's more for both categories, but these are the ones that came to mind when writing this.

What plants are like that where you live?

[Manalto]

In Connecticut, I see pretty much the same shrubs as you. Everyone also seems to have yews, forsythia (which my horticulture professor memorably called 'the vomit of spring') and Rose of Sharon.

The jump to Zone 8 on the Gulf Coast is a big one, and a different plant palette - with a little overlap. Azaleas are native here, so they're everywhere, along with camellia, gardenia, several kinds of holly, pittosporum and podocarpus. The shrub that is in overwhelming evidence right now because they're in bloom is crape myrtle. I'm nuts about palms but there is a strange bias against them here.

That same horticulture professor told our class the story of the orange daylily (Hemerocallis fulva, AKA tawny daylily). It's an Asian plant that was imported from England in Colonial times and is sterile; it doesn't set seed. Presumably, bits of daylily root would be picked up by wagon wheels and then dropped further down the road, resulting in new clumps of daylilies growing along the roadside.

[mjt]

That same horticulture professor told our class the story of the orange daylily (Hemerocallis fulva, AKA tawny daylily). It's an Asian plant that was imported from England in Colonial times and is sterile; it doesn't set seed. Presumably, bits of daylily root would be picked up by wagon wheels and then dropped further down the road, resulting in new clumps of daylilies growing along the roadside.

I've sometimes heard them called "ditch lillies" in rural areas around here, which would fit with that story.

[Gothichome]

We refer to them as tiger lilies. They grow wild and are every were.
Comming from Alberta, it was refreshing to see flowers growing wild here in SW Ontario. In Calgary getting any better thing to grow long term was always a challenge. If it survives the summer, it just might make it past a prairie winter.
The exception, as in many places, the common dandy lion, just as plentiful here as in Calgary.

[Manalto]

Here, tiger lily is a different plant, a true lily, Lilium lancifolium. It looks like this:

Lilium-lancifolium-Tiger-Lily4-702x527 by James McInnis, on Flickr


People may think I'm being tedious by listing the botanical name, but the trouble with common names is they can differ from place to place. "Ditch lily" is a perfect name for Hemerocallis fulva though, and not nearly such a mouthful.

[Lily left the valley]

These are the two main orange variant lilies we have in abundance. We have two much smaller yellow day lilies in the back. One was here, and one I brought but it didn't do anything last year so I feared it dead thanks to the landscaper boyfriend of our landlady then that sprayed herbicides like they were water. This year, though, it suddenly started blooming shortly after the one that came with the house.

The long bed has double blooms. Both pictures are from this year.



Where I grew up in South Jersey, we called them "tiger" lilies too. Our neighbors here have "tigers". But I have heard the ditch lily name before.

I always did think it bizarre that the true tiger lilies have spots. Actual tigers in Asia aren't spotted. It's probably a translation error from years back.

[Willa]

In southwestern Ontario, this is what I see in peoples yards:

- those weeping mulberry trees ?
- Rose of Sharon
- Bridal Wreath Spirea
- lots of daylilies everywhere, particularly those smaller orange-yellow ones that grow in grassy looking clumps
- loads of Virginia Creeper everywhere except where I seeded it with high hopes
- regular orange daylilies
- some peony
- there's lots of Crimson King/Royal Red Maples here (Norway maples with dark burgundy leaves)
- this municipality really encourages trees, and has giveaways by donation of trees that are native to the area, so there are big trees in many yards
- some fancier Japanese maple
- roses and climbing roses
- Boston and English Ivy
- hostas of many kinds
- morning glories
- Magnolia trees
- Redbud looks amazing for one week in the spring then just turns into an ordinary, unremarkable bush/tree for the rest of the year.
- irises
- businesses with landscaping have lots of tall decorative grass clumps
- clematis

My neighbourhood is pretty low on fancier types of gardens. I planted a ton of Cosmos, on the strip by the driveway, which seem to be nearly foolproof. My morning glories are doing better in certain locations than others ? It seems they like some sun, but also some shade (news to me). I scored a bunch of free daylilies on CL last year. Since the fence got moved, I moved them, too. Some are the basic orange daylily, others are the doubles like you have, and some are a smaller burgundy that gets very bleached out by the sun. I have some fancier daylilies like Border Lord, Bela Lugosi, Dominic,(both very dark black-burgundy) a large bright red one I don't know the name of, Persian Market (large coral pink blooms). I have a few old fashioned bearded iris, a couple of Sarah Bernhardt peonies and many hostas. I also planted smoke bushes last year, which are still runts.

Certain hostas have been under a mystery attack that seems like voles - but there are no vole channels ? Something ripped most of the leaves and bud off a marked down Cathedral Windows I just bought. It dug down to the roots and just VIOLATED this poor plant, still in the pot. I hope there is enough left to survive. I had a nice shady area in the back of the yard where a bunch of hostas were doing great - then the attack started with whole new plants vanishing - and others eaten down to almost nothing by snails (I have many snails). I moved the survivors across the yard to a sunnier area away from the trees, and most recovered acceptably. The ones under the trees in the front yard have not been under such an attack, however. Skunks? Squirrels ? I don't know what.

I have heard regular Castor Oil is a good defense against voles.

I also have several Mulleins, like you, and a very abundant crop of Queen Anne's Lace, which planted itself. I also have many milkweed, which I just let be this year. I was surprised their flowers smelt so pleasant. I also let some burdock grow, but probably will not repeat this.